A Second Chance
by Emerald Penguin
Summary: Despite being ruled 'not guilty' the Malfoys are still hated by much of the wizarding world. What will Draco do to ensure his son has a shot at the life he never had?
1. Chapter 1

Draco Malfoy's mind was made up the day his son Scorpius received his acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He knew that when he sent him to school, with his hated family name, the boy would be an outcast. Even the Slytherins would hate him. The Malfoys were the only ones among the Dark Lord`s followers not to be sent to Azkaban after Lord Voldemort's death, and the wizarding world hated them for it.

He could never remove the prejudice the wizarding world had against him, but perhaps, he could make the way easier for his son. Malfoy picked up his quill and gritted his teeth. He knew what he had to do, but that did not mean he liked it. So he began to write.

Dear Mr Potter...

Harry Potter paced his office, a letter in hand. He had originally put the letter away and resolved not to think about it, but not once had his mind left it. The letter itself was simple enough, requesting a brief meeting with him at his earliest convenience. He received hundreds of similar letters each week. Being the head of the Auror department and the "boy who lived" meant there were few people who didn't want to meet him and ask for his advice about one thing or another. But this was different. This was from Malfoy . . . and it was polite!

Re-reading the letter, Harry tried to take in any hidden messages it could hold. He had become pretty good at this over the years, but would still have preferred to have Hermione do it for him. But she would tell Ron, and Ron would flip out if he thought Harry was in touch with a Malfoy.

Looking it over again, he noticed something he had missed originally, an underlying tone. Was it? Surely not from Malfoy? Pleading? The usual arrogance was there, but it seemed to be forced rather than natural, as if the writer felt that it should be there but didn't quite have the heart to carry it out properly. Then there was the mention of his son. He was only spoken of briefly, but fatherly pride seemed to layer every word. Maybe he had changed? It couldn't do any harm to meet with him, could it? And the others didn't have to know. Not about the first meeting anyway. So he began to write.

Dear Mr Malfoy...

Draco grimaced. When he had asked to meet with Harry at his earliest possible convenience, he hadn't expected it to be this soon. He was Head Auror, for Merlin's sake! Didn't he have work to do? Of course, he knew that Harry must have pulled some strings to meet with him this quickly. He actually felt a little guilty about this but was refusing to admit it to himself. Why should he care that Potter was so damned nosy that he felt an urge to rearrange his whole schedule to meet with him? Again a pinprick of guilt shot through him. Seizing a handful of Floo powder, he unrolled the piece of parchment that contained the Floo directions to Harry's office and set off.

When the spinning sensation stopped, Draco opened his eyes and peered around. There had been something odd about those Floo directions; didn't all Ministry office directions start with the surname of the employee? He glanced down at the parchment, but it had already been consumed by the green flames.

Realizing the office was deserted, he resisted the urge to nose through the papers arranged carelessly on the desk and took a seat. As he had a really big favour to ask Harry, the last thing he wanted was to get caught going through his things. Glancing around the room, he couldn't help but notice what a big office it was, even for the Head Auror. Ministry offices were usually quite small, with just enough room for necessities. This room was different. Someone had taken the time to decorate it. On one wall were small, colourful handprints that Draco could only guess must have been done by his children. It was all very unprofessional.

Suddenly a noise from outside made Draco freeze -- the sound of children laughing and playing as they raced around. Realization hit him like a Bludger. This must be his house! Harry had invited him for a business meeting at his house! More voices outside made Draco jump and he strained to hear what was being said.

"Come on Dad, just one quick game!" The first voice was a young boy's. He sounded a lot like his father.

"No, I can't! I have a meeting now! Come on, let me past." Harry sounded as if he was laughing.

"One game, Dad, please! Uncle Ron's going to play! Quidditch is SO much more important than a meeting!" a second boy pleaded.

"Is it Kingsley, Dad? Can we say hello? Please, I want to tell him that I got a new broom! Please!" A small girl's voice this time. What was this? Potter's kids were on first name basis with Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic? It sounded as if he was a regular visitor.

"It's not Kingsley. No, you can't say hello anyway. No, I can't play but I will later, and no, you've never met him. Now off you go."

"Can I say hello later, Dad? Please!" whispered the girls voice.

"Maybe, if you're really good."

With much conspiratorial whispering, the children finally left and Harry opened the door and strode in. Noticing Draco sitting in the chair with an amused grin on his face, he smiled ruefully and apologized for the delay.

"Don't worry, I..." Draco broke off, wondering what exactly to say. How did you ask your childhood enemy for help?

Noticing his hesitancy, Harry said, "I heard your son is starting at Hogwarts this year. He'll be in the same year as my son Albus, plus Rose and a few of his other cousins."

Mention of Scorpius kicked Draco back into action. "Actually, that's why I'm here." Harry motioned for him to continue. "Well, I know this is a lot to ask, but, you see, the thing is that... well. I'm afraid that when Scorpius goes to school, everyone will hate him. He'll be bullied and rejected because of things that aren't his fault. But your family, it practically rules Hogwarts." Draco shrugged lamely. "Well, I hoped you would help."

"Help how?" Harry asked.

Draco frowned suspiciously, a slight sneer playing about his lips. "What, just like that? No - `what's in it for me?` or gloating, or anything?"

Chuckling lightly, Harry brushed off the insult and answered, "I'm an Auror. `How can I help?` is sort of in the job description. So, how can I help? "

"Let my son spend some time with your family. Please. If they like him, then they'll stop the others from bullying him. He's a good kid. He doesn't deserve to be hated," Draco finished quietly, his voice little more than a whisper.

"Well, there's only one question that needs to be addressed now," said Harry, bluntly.

Apprehensively, Draco met Harry's gaze, wondering what he could mean.

"Do you want to face the whole family at once, or a bit at a time?"

Draco couldn't help but smile.

***

"By the way, I've invited a few other people to dinner tomorrow."

All of the Weasleys and their spouses, along with five friends of the family and 27 children, had been enjoying a huge party at the Burrow, celebrating Percy's promotion. The table had had several Enlarging Charms placed on it and a Strengthening Charm as well, but it still bowed slightly in the middle. Now the children had all been sent to bed and only the adults and Teddy Lupin were left up.

"Well, it's your house, mate. You can invite who you like, but I don't think Gin will appreciate the extra cooking," warned Ron from across the table where he was playing wizard chess with his brother Bill.

"Who's coming?" asked Teddy, Harry`s godson, who had moved in permanently with the Potters since his grandmother had passed away a few years earlier.

"Well, I don't want you all to think I've gone mental or anything, so don't say anything until I have explained why, OK?"

He had everyone`s attention now, so he took a deep breath and continued. "I invited the Malfoys."

For a moment it looked like his request for silence was going to be granted. Then Ron screamed, "ARE YOU MENTAL?" and the spell was broken. Everyone seemed keen to agree with him just as loudly as they could.

"Quiet!"yelled Harry, using a Sonorus Charm to make his voice carry over the noise.

"Malfoy doesn't want the whole of the wizarding world to hate his son. Is that really so bad?"

Harry knew that family was a soft spot for the Weasleys, but it was risky bringing it up so early in the argument.

"Can't we just not hate him from a distance?" asked a thoroughly confused-looking Teddy.

Harry turned to look directly at Teddy, forcing him to meet his eye. "You`re related to the Malfoys and you live with us."

Ted blushed furiously. "I'm nothing like them," he muttered, averting his gaze.

"Do we have to be polite?" questioned George, drawing Harry's attention away from a beetroot-coloured Teddy.

With an exasperated sigh, Harry fixed him with a glare that would have made Mrs Weasley proud.  
"Not a single Weasleys` Wizard Wheezes product within 100 miles of the house. That will count for everyone!" he added, glancing up to the room where his two sons and their cousins were pretending to be asleep but were probably planning something that would have made the Marauders proud.

"Malfoy wants his son to associate with people his own age before he goes to Hogwarts. He's worried about his son! He cares about his son! Caring about people is a decent human quality and if Malfoy has one decent human quality, then he must have changed since we knew him at school! All he wants is for people to not hate his son. The kid's only eleven! Even if you can't pretend that you don't hate Malfoy for one night, at least go easy on the kid."

He glanced over at his wife, Ginny, who gave him a reassuring smile. He had talked to her before the rest of the family had arrived because he had expected her reaction to be louder than the rest of the family's put together. But she had simply kissed him on the cheek and told him that in future that he should guard his office door against Extendable Ears. Apparently she had listened to the whole conversation and agreed that Scorpius Malfoy deserved a chance at a normal life.

Returning sharply to the present, Harry realized that the mutinous mutterings had resumed amongst the party. But Harry could tell he had won them over. He just hoped that nothing would go too badly wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

"Have you seen James or Albus?" asked Harry as he entered the kitchen.

"Outside, playing Quidditch with the rest of our motley crew," George replied, gesturing vaguely to the back door.

As Harry walked out the back door, into the back garden, he was met with a sight that would probably make even the most hardened criminals stop in their tracks. Lily Potter stood, hands on hips glowering at her two elder brothers who cowered before her.

"It was an accident Lily!" insisted James.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to!" added Albus.

"You are bad, bad brothers" Lily screamed, "Daddy will send you to Azzerban for this!"

"Don't you mean Azkaban, Lily?" asked Teddy Lupin with a chuckle, who had been watching the whole thing.

"I hate you all!" she screamed, before storming away. Her doll's head in one hand and its body in the other.

As she ran towards the house the boys turned to follow her but stopped when they spotted their father, identical guilty expressions settled into their faces before they quickly fell into their 'innocent' act.

"I'm not even going to ask," muttered Harry.

"It was sort of brilliant," commented Teddy.

Harry shook his head, it seemed James and Albus had made it their lives ambitions to out-prank both The Marauders and the Weasley Twins. "Teddy, have you told them who I invited to dinner tonight?"

"Nah Harry, I value my life," chuckled Teddy.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Harry grumbled under his breath. "Well Albus, its someone who's going to be in your year at school..."

* * *

"Scorpius!" called Draco as he stormed through the house. True, he hadn't been expecting Pansy to be thrilled with him for requesting help from the Potters, but she could have at least tried to see that he was doing this for their son. "Scorpius! Can you come here a moment?"

"Coming Father," he heard his son's voice ring out from upstairs, but just as the small blonde boy appeared at the top of the steps, (a near exact copy of his Father at that age) Pansy's shrill voice shot through the house.

"Draco Malfoy! I have not finished speaking to you!"

It was clear that Pansy was not in a sensible mood and frankly Draco didn't want to deal with her temper right now; he would wait for her to calm down. Taking the stairs two at a time he ushered Scorpius ahead of him into a lesser used parlour before gesturing for him to remain quiet while Pansy passed by calling for him.

"Your Mother's scary when she's angry," Draco grinned with a mock shudder while he and his son shared a brief joke at his wife's expense.

Draco smirked his trade mark smirk but it faded rapidly as he realized just how few and far between these moments with his son were. It was the kind of relationship that he had shared with his Father; not the one he wanted to have with his own son. But that could wait, there were other matters to be addressed first.

"Scorpius, you know you were worried about going to Hogwarts," Draco began slowly, "well I've come up with something that may help."

Scorpius snorted softly, "Dad, nothing short of changing our entire family's reputation is going to make me comfortable about going there."

Draco blinked twice but otherwise didn't react, for the first time since he had written to Potter, he was confident that it had been the right thing to do. "I'm afraid I can't do that. No matter who you are, there will always be someone who dislikes you because of it. But I have done something to help."

He paused, reading Scorpius' curious expression, "Tonight, you and I are going to have dinner with some old school _colleagues_ of mine, their children are all about your age, and I thought it might be nice if you had some friends at Hogwarts before you get there."

Scorpius looked briefly puzzled, "Dad, won't me hanging out with all the old blood families just make everything worse?"

Shuffling his feet slightly, Draco tried to compose himself before answering, "I'm not talking about people I was friends with. These are people that were on the right side during the war. Harry Potter and the Weasleys."

There was a brief silence as Scorpius gaped at his Father. "Re... Really?" he finally managed to gasp.

Draco nodded slowly, "I wrote to Pot... err... Harry about a week ago and went to see him yesterday. Tonight, we're invited to dinner."

There was another moment of silence as Scorpius stared up at his father with a look that Draco couldn't decipher before suddenly Scorpius threw himself at Draco, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you Dad!" he exclaimed.

Draco hugged his son back and chuckled weakly, "I guess this means you're pleased?" He asked, relived.

Scorpius beamed brightly up at Draco and nodded happily.

* * *

"But they're the bad guys, why would you invite the bad guys to dinner?" asked James, confused.

Harry sighed, "Things aren't always black and white, James. Yes, Draco fought for Voldemort during the war, but he didn't have a lot of choice. His family were at risk if he didn't and as for Scorpius, he wasn't even alive during the war. So can you really call him a bad guy?"

James and Albus still looked unsure, after all they had grown up hearing stories from just about everyone they knew, many of which featured the Malfoys as the villains. "Plus they're related to Teddy and Teddy's family," added Harry firmly, "and you help family when they need it."

Albus began to nod, slowly followed by James. "All right, you win," they muttered ruefully, which was as close to an agreement that they would behave as Harry was going to get.


End file.
